A Worth of their Own. On Gotland in the Baltic Sea,and its 12th-century Coinage

Abstract

In about AD 1140, the island of Gotland initiated what was to become one of the most influential coinages of the medieval Baltic Sea area. This was part of a strategy to meet the impact and pressure from the world outside in a period characterised by large-scale political and ideological changes. In this situation, old and new networks were important to maintain autonomy from those aiming for dominance over the island. The coins, with an independent weight standard and an iconography inspired by NW German and Frisian coins, were one way of attracting partners to the island's main harbour, where its inhabitants could maintain control and trading peace. Coins incorporate in them the dimensions of object, text and picture. A historical archaeology of coins needs not only focus on large-scale perspectives and formal power, but must also give weight to the archaeological context, the life biography of the coins and the social negotiations behind their production and use. Thus intention and reality, symbolism and social practice may be studied to find openings to the stories behind the objects. The different dimensions of the coins together with historical sources give away plenty of information on several levels: about the networks, ideological framework, artisanship and changing loyalties of this time and area.     

18th- and 19th-century shipyards at the south-east entrance to the West India Docks, London

Archaeological fieldwork in 1997 on the Isle of Dogs, at the south-east entrance to the West India Docks, recovered evidence of 17th- to 19th-century shipyards, associated activities and foreign trade. Reused timbers may be the remains of the 17th-century Rolt's yard. Reclamation along the natural inlet was accompanied by the construction of a timber dry dock probably in the late 18th century. This soon fell out of use and was filled in with the construction of new dry docks to the south in 1806 by Thomas Pitcher. Much of the debris dating to the first half of the 19th century from ship repairing and building and from a range of ancillary crafts, together with ceramics from Iberia and the Far East, probably came from Pitcher's yard.     

The Acqualadroni Ram Recovered Near the Strait of Messina,Sicily: dimensions,timbers, iconography and historical context

Within the framework of the activities of the Soprintendenza del Mare of Sicily, a bronze ram was recovered just north of the Straits of Messina, in the area of Acqualadroni. This paper discusses technical and iconographic features of the ram and compares them with others found in Sicily, Piraeus, Tuscany and Athlit. The study shows the Acqualadroni Ram has more analogies with the latter, although it also has unique features. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the ram was used on a warship dating from the mid‐2nd century BC. It is therefore possible that the Acqualadroni Ram was lost during the Naulochus battle (36 BC) or during the Civil Wars that gave rise to the rule of Octavian.     

Morphology of low-frequency waves in the solar wind and their relation to ground pulsations

Three classes of low frequency waves (period range 20–80 s) were identified using data from the UCLA fluxgate magnetometer experiment on board the ISEE 2 spacecraft. These are continuous pulsations similar in type to Pc 3, band-limited oscillations distinguished by mixed period fluctuations, and relatively isolated wave bundles. The waves were preferentially observed when the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) direction was sunward and were most common when the cone angle, i.e. the angle between IMF and the Sun-Earth line (θ_xb) was often between 15° and 45°. Their frequency is proportional to the IMF magnitude.Comparison between the waves observed on board the ISEE 2 spacecraft and the Pc 3–4 recorded simultaneously at a mid-latitude ground station, Oulu (L = 4.5), showed that similarity of spectra of the waves in the spacecraft and on the ground was very rare and that correspondence between the events in space and on the ground was extremely low.     

Tikal timbers and temples: ancient Maya agroforestry and the end of time

Tikal, a major lowland Maya civic-ceremonial center in the heart of the Petén region of Central America, relied heavily on the adjacent lowland rainforest as a resource base for fuel and construction materials. In this study, we analyzed 135 wood samples from timbers used in the construction of all six of the city's major temples as well as two major palaces to determine which tree species were being exploited and to better understand ancient Maya agroforestry practices during the Late Classic period. We found evidence for a change in preference from the large-growing, upland forest species, Manilkara zapota, to a seasonal wetland species Haematoxylon campechianum in A.D. 741 as well as a decrease in lintel beam widths over time. Though M. zapota later returned as the wood species of choice in A.D. 810, beam widths were found to be significantly smaller. These findings concur with models that hypothesize widespread deforestation during the Late Classic period and indicate a declining forest resource base by the 9th century A.D. Because of the many large timbers available for temple construction in the 8th century, some system of forest conservation is indicated for the ancient Maya prior to the Late Classic period.     

Scuttled in the Morning: the discoveries and surveys of HMS Warrior and HMS Sparrowhawk,the Battle of Jutland's last missing shipwrecks

Due to the circumstances of the loss of HMS Warrior and HMS Sparrowhawk in 1916, in which subsequent to disablement both had drifted and been towed unknown distances from the Jutland battlefield, they were not located in the 2015 Jutland survey. In August 2016 both ships were located and HMS Warrior was revealed to be a pristine warship wreck, the only example in this condition of the 25 ships sunk in the battle. HMS Sparrowhawk had a similar pattern of disturbance as seven of the other Battle of Jutland destroyer wrecks. The survey of these wrecks draws to a conclusion a long period of discovery at Jutland and raises questions as to how these important cultural artefacts should be treated in the future.     

'Our Spanish Brothers' or 'As at Plombieres'? France, The Legacy of Resistance and the Spanish Opposition to Franco, 1945-1948

The case of French relations with the semi-Fascist regime ofGeneral Francisco Franco of Spain after the Second World Waroffers historians the opportunity to explore various influenceson French foreign policy. This article examines France’sofficial policies towards the Spanish anti-Franco oppositionas an example of the impact that the legacy of the Resistancehad on postwar foreign affairs. Yet the French Foreign Ministryonly reluctantly embraced the Resistance vision of universalrepublicanism in Europe. Rather, the importance of keeping Frenchpolicy in line with that of the Western Alliance consistentlyshaped policy towards various Spanish groups. The result wasa significant Franco-American-British effort to unite the anti-Francoopposition in Spain 1945–1948 but one that was easilyabandoned once it proved impracticable. Resistance ideas ofa renewed foreign policy following liberation were thus limitedby the importance the government attributed to alliance politicsin the emerging Cold War atmosphere.     

19世纪西方绸面阳伞修复研究

19到20世纪西方阳伞受中国文化的传播影响,多以丝绸为伞面,伞柄多采用象牙等材质,制作工艺具有中西方文化融合的特征,是见证东西方文化交流的重要实物。目前国内针对阳伞修复的研究和实例鲜见,以杭州工艺美术博物馆藏19世纪西方绸面阳伞为例,在利用便携式显微镜和近红外光谱仪无损分析织物材质和组织结构的基础上,经工艺研究、制作支撑物、伞面拆除、平整、修复、拼合等步骤完成阳伞修复。重点研究阳伞修复的形制分解、修复支撑物模具的设计制作,此为阳伞修复的关键,可为此类文物的科学修复保护提供实践参考。     

黑龙江省海林市杨林南山旧石器遗址石器研究

本文以杨林南山遗址石制品为主要研究对象,通过对其岩性的鉴定、标本数据的测量、石制品的类型学分析,和与周边地区同时期旧石器考古学文化的比较,以此加深对该遗址文化内涵及特征的认识,并对张广才岭地区的旧石器文化面貌有一初步的了解,同时为探讨东北亚旧石器文化间的交流与传播提供了一批宝贵的资料。     

The excavation of a 17th-century pit at the Black Gate,Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1975

Abstract

A stone-lined pit beneath the roadway into the castle was found to be part of the new defences constructed at the time of the Civil War. Artifacts found in the pit show that it had been filled up with largely domestic rubbish between c. 1645 and 1675. The finds include pottery, particularly redwares and tin-glazed wares, a variety of glass vessels including chemical apparatus, clay tobacco-pipes and some Scottish coins. The majority of the objects were imports, both from southern England and the continent.     

An American controversy about the localization of cutaneous sensory regions and their relation to motor regions

Three American neurologists (C. K. Mills, C. L. Dana, and M. A. Starr) explored the anatomical limits of the motor and tactile systems in the brain from 1884 to 1895. Their papers and critiques of one another show contemporary knowledge, limits of their thinking, and difficulties deciding between alternatives. The issue for them was whether there were separate sensory and motor regions or whether there was a combined sensory-motor region. They based their localization arguments on clinical and laboratory findings and on the conclusions of H. Munk and D. Ferrier. There is a discussion about why differences were unresolved.